There are many cash-value life insurance products for clients who are focused on protecting their loved ones, wealth accumulation and tax-free distributions. The differences between these products can significantly impact the wealth accumulation potential of the policies. Let's examine the various cash-value products available and determine the top life insurance products for this purpose. 

You may have seen some pretty large industry movement in decreasing cap rates at carriers, especially in regards to Indexed Universal Life insurance (IUL). It seems like this is an industry wide issue and “carrier chatter” is really heating up across the board.

Financial professionals often look at clients solely through the eyes of an illustration. We assume what a client looks like today will continue into eternity, instead of realizing that life changes over time. One example of this has to do with clients being able to afford higher contributions to an indexed universal life insurance (IUL) policy in the future than what they can afford today.

Until 1982 no statutory rule existed that defined the characteristics of life insurance for federal tax purposes. However, in the early 1980s, Congress was motivated to act by the development of a new generation of Universal Life contracts because these new products provided significantly more cash-value build-up than was needed to support the death benefit.

One of the most common risks in retirement is order of returns risk (also known as: sequence of returns risk). It is well known within the financial services industry that investing in marketable securities exposes clients to this risk. However, do your clients know that many indexed products are not immune from order of returns risk?

To no surprise of anyone in our business, financial professionals often express to me their frustrations with the life insurance underwriting process. When I consult with them, I find myself asking the same important questions:

In the past, financial professionals have relied on a well-balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds to manage a client’s risk versus return. While the concept is widely accepted, if you ask 50 different financial professionals what a well-balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds looks like, you'll likely get 50 different answers. 

There are various products out there that provide your clients with retirement income, and many of the traditional options such as a 401(k), IRA or Roth account come to mind. What many of your clients may not realize is that a properly structured and funded Indexed Universal Life (IUL) policy can provide your clients more benefits with less risk than the traditional options. 

A very basic way to understand how Indexed Universal Life (IUL) credits interest is to think of it like a very simple game where you flip a coin 10 times. There are then two ways to play the game. In Game 1 you win $100 for every head, and lose $100 for every tail. Game 2 awards you $70 for every head, but you lose nothing for every tail.

Today with so many carriers and marketing organizations jumping on the Indexed Universal Life (IUL) bandwagon, it’s hard to believe that the product was actually introduced to the market in 1997. Back then, forward-looking insurance companies were trying to find ways to make their fixed insurance products more attractive.